Marine sewage pump and disposal system



y 2, 1962 E. c. BAUGHMAN 3,035,274

MARINE SEWAGE PUMP AND DISPOSAL SYSTEM Filed June 28, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

EDWIN C. BAUGHMAN BY nited States 3,935,274 Patented May 22, 1962 3,035,274 MARINE SEWAGE PUMP AND DISPOSAL SYSTEM Edwin C. Baughman, 431 Olohana St., Apt. 1,

' Honolulu 15, Hawaii Filed June 28, 1960, Ser. No. 39,302 3 Claims. (Cl. 477) The present invention relates generally to pumps and more particularly to a marine sewage pump and disposal system.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a marine sewage pump having dual rotors driven by a single motor, one rotor providing flushing water and the other rotor removing sewage, the unit being adaptable to toilets, garbage disposal systems, or other applications requiring the disposal of liquid and solid material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pump in which the sewage disposal rotor is designed to disintegrate solid matter with a powerful slicing action and is virtually non-jamming in normal use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pump and disposal system incorporating a standpipe in the drain or outlet to prevent pump cavitation when starting and eliminating the need for priming.

Another object of this invention is to provide a marine sewage disposal system which is self-contained and is adaptable to many different types and sizes of vessels.

Finally, it is an object to provide a marine sewage pump and disposal system of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to install and operate and which will give generally efiicient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view, partially cut away, of the complete system;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawings.

The system includes a pump driven by a motor 12, which may be of any suitable type, such as electric, hydraulic, or even a power take-oil from the vessels propulsion unit. An electric motor powered by the electrical system of the vessel is preferred, however, since the sewage disposal system is thus more self-contained and requires no piping or mechanical connection to the vessels existing services. The pump has a flushing portion 14, having a water inlet 16 and an outlet 18, and a disposal portion 20, having a sewage inlet 22 and a drain outlet 24. The system as illustrated is used in conjunction with a toilet bowl 26 having an upper distributing duct 28 from which flushing water is ejected through perforations 30, said duct being connected by a pipe 32 to the outlet 18. The toilet bowl 26 has a base outlet 34 which is coupled by a large sewage pipe 36 to the sewage inlet 22, the drain outlet 24 leading to a drain pipe 38 having an upwardly extending standpipe portion 40 substantially above the pump 10. It should be understood, however, that the system may also be installed in a galley below the sink for garbage disposal purposes.

The pump 10 has a single shaft 42, the upper end of which is provided with a tongue 44 engaging with the driving fork 46 of motor 12, as in FIGURE 4, said shaft being freely rotatable in a bearing sleeve 48 mounted in the upper casing 50 of the pump. The motor 12 is preferably attached directly to the pump 10, the upper casing 5% having an attachment flange 52 to which said motor is secured. The flushing portion 14 comprises a housing integral with the upper casing 50 and having a cylindrical chamber 56 disposed eccentrioally relative to the shaft 42, said shaft carrying a flushing rotor 58 having a plurality of flexible blades 60 which wipe the periphery of said chamber, as in FIGURE 3. The rotor 58 may be made of rubber, plastic, or other material with suitable flexibility and wearing qualities. Alternatively, and still within the ambit of this invention, a sliding vane type impeller may be used, or any other well known rotor means suitable for pumping water. Water is pumped as a result of the volumetric change between adjacent blades 60 rotating eccentrioally in the chamber 56, the underlying principle of such a pump being well known. The chamber 56 is sealed from the bearing sleeve 48 by a conventional sealing ring 61 around the shaft 42.

The disposal portion comprises a housing 62 having a cylindrical chamber 64 closed by a top wall 66 through which the shaft 42 is journalled, said top wall having a large diameter alignment plug 68 which seats in a corresponding socket 70 in the lower face of the flushing portion 14, so that the two portions are closely fitted together. The lower end of the housing 62 is closed by a bottom plate 72 on which are generally radially extending lugs 74 and '76. The housing 54 is provided with lugs 78 through which bolts 80 are passed and threaded into lugs 74 and 76 to clamp the pump assembly tightly together. Inside the chamber 64 is a disposal rotor 82 comprising a generally flat disc 84 adjacent the top wall 66, said disc being fixed to shaft 42 and having a plurality of axially downwardly projecting blades 86. The blades 86 extend from adjacent the shaft 42 to the periphery of disc 82, the blades being similarly inclined to the radial, the outer tips of said blades trailing and the inner ends being advanced with respect to the direction of rotation, as indicated in FIGURE 2. The outer tip of each blade 86 has a forwar-dly turned cutting edge 88 which is closely spaced from the wall of chamber 64, and the inner ends of the blades have sharp tips 89.

The sewage pipe 36 has an end flange 90 by which the pipe is attached to the bottom plate 72, said sewage pipe being aligned with the sewage inlet 22 which is substantially tangentially oflset to the side of the chamber 64 adjacent the outer periphery thereof. The drain outlet 24 extends genera-11y tangentially from chamber 64, closely adjacent to the sewage inlet 22, as in FIGURE 2, so that the majority of the sewage entering said chamber is ejected directly into said drain outlet, with a minimum of circulation in said chamber.

Any solid matter passing through the sewage inlet 22 is sliced by the edges of the blades adjacent to the edge of the inlet opening, the non-radial angulation of said blades providing an optimized slicing action. The outlet slot 92 in the chamber 64 leading to the drain outlet 24 is of a shape approaching the rectangular, as is apparent in FIGURES 2 and 4, and presents a shoulder 94 opposing the cutting edges 88 and against which any solid matter is further sheared off by these cutting edges 88 of the rotor blades.

In installation, the pump 10 is preferably mounted below the base outlet 34 for complete drainage of the bowl 26, or, if it is desired to retain a minimum water level in said bowl, the vertical position of the pump can be adjusted accordingly, the water seeking a level dependent on the height of the standpipe portion 40. A water supply pipe 96 is connected to the inlet 16 to provide water from a tank or a suitable intake below the vessels water line, the drain pipe 38 being extended to a convenient dumping position. When the motor 12 is actuated, water is forced through the duct 28 to flush the bowl 26 and is remove-d through the disposal portion 20 of the pump. Since both flushing and disposal portions of the pump operate together, the disposal rotor 82 commences to pump before water enters the sewage pipe 36, a situation which would normalcause cavitation and pump failure. In some pump type sewage systems priming with water is necessary to prevent such cavitation, but this is unnecessary in the present system due to the provision of a standpipe portion in the drain pipe 38. Once the system has been used, a quantity of water remains in the sewage pipe 36 and the standpipe portion 40 after pumping ceases. Further operation of the pump 10 then picks up the standing water in the sewage pipe 36 and ejects it into the drain pipe 38. If all of the standing water is removed from the sewage pipe before the flushing water refills the pipe, the rotor 82 tends to cavitate and pumping pressure is momentarily lost. However, the head of water in the standpipe portion 40 flows back into the rotor 82 by gravity and primes the pump until flushing water flows through the sewage pipe 36 to sustain pumping action. Since the rotor 82 is designed primarily for pumping liquids, its efiiciency as an air blower is negligible and the air pressure is insuflicient to prevent backwash of water from the standpipe portion 40.

The system thus utilizes a compact, dual function pump connected to a toilet bowl, sink, or other sewage container to provide water for flushing the container and to remove water and sewage therefrom. The sewage is disintegrated and ejected through a drain, the plumbing of the system being arranged to provide automatic priming for the pump in a minimum of space, the only moving component of the system being the motor driven shaft and rot-or assembly. While primarily intended for marine use, the system is also adaptable to other installations where gravity type flushing systems are impractical due to the need for constant refilling of a header tank.

The operation of this invention will be clearly com-prehended from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the drawings and the above recited objects. It will be obvious that all said objects are amply achieved by this invention.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. A sewage pump and disposal system, comprising: a pump having a flushing portion and a disposal portion; said flushing portion including a housing having an inlet and an outlet; a water pumping rotor in said housing; said disposal portion including a second housing having a sewage inlet opening and a drain outlet; a disposal rotor in said second housing; a single shaft connecting both of said rotors; motor means operatively connected to said shaft to drive said rotors; said second housing having an t end enclosing plate; said sewage inlet opening extending generally axially through said plate adjacent the periphery of said second housing; means for disintegrating incoming sewage, said disintegrating means comprising a plurality of rigid blades extending from adjacent the center to the periphery of said disposal rotor; sail blades being angularly disposed relative to the radius of the rotor with the outer ends thereof trailing from the direction of rotation; said blades having one longitudinal edge closely spaced to said plate to pass across said sewage inlet opening and disintegrate incoming sewage, said blades having a cutting edge at their outer ends to further disintegrate said sewage; a sewage container having flushing water distributing means; a source of water connected to said first mentioned inlet; said first mentioned outlet being connected to said distributing means; and a sewage pipe connecting said container to said sewage inlet opening.

2. A sewage pump and disposal system, comprising: a pump having a flushing portion and a disposal portion; said flushing portion including a housing having an inlet and an outlet; a water pumping rotor in said housing; said disposal portion including a second housing having a sewage inlet opening and a drain outlet; a disposal rotor in said second housing; a single shaft connecting both of said rotors; motor means operatively connected to said shaft to drive said rotors; said second housing having an end enclosing plate; said sewage inlet opening extending generally axially through said plate adjacent the periphery of said second housing; means for disintegrating incoming sewage, said disintegrating means comprising a plurality of rigid blades extending from adjacent the center to the periphery of said disposal rotor; said blades being angularly disposed relative to the radius of the rotor with the outer ends thereof trailing from the direction of rotation; said blades having one longitudinal edge closely spaced to said plate to pass across said sewage inlet opening and disintegrate incoming sewage; said drain outlet being generally tangential to said second housing and having an outlet slot from the housing adjacent said sewage inlet opening; said outlet slot having a shoulder; means for further disintegrating said sewage, said means comprising cutting edges disposed on the outer and the inner ends of said blades, the cutting edges on said inner ends cutting said sewage and the cutting edges at the outer ends of said blades producing a sewage shearing coaction with said shoulder; a sewage container having flushing water distributing means; a source of water connected to said first mentioned inlet; said first mentioned outlet being connected to said distributing means; and a sewage pipe connecting said container to said sewage inlet opening.

3. A sewage pump and disposal system according to claim 2 and including a drain pipe connected to said drain outlet; said drain pipe having a standpipe portion extending upwardly substantially above said disposal rotor, so that cavitation of the rotor is prevented by backwash of water from said standpipe portion.

Sell et al. Feb. 3, 1920 Christen Feb. 24, 1925 

